The Girl Outside
by Relatable Alien
Summary: A strange girl appears in Sarah Jane's driveway. Who is she? Where is she from? When is she from? What is she? So many questions... perhaps the Doctor could shed some light on the situation.
1. Chapter 1

"What's she doing?" Sky gazed out the attic window as Sarah Jane worked at her computer. She had articles to write, and these bills didn't pay for themselves! _Oh, Luke, I miss you already, _she thought, recalling the weekend before when he'd left for university. She was sad to see him go, but K9 was there and he couldn't be left on his own for long. Another thought nagged at her mind, a friend Luke had mentioned quite often... _no. He'd say if anything was happening... wouldn't he? He does feel comfortable telling me or asking me questions... doesn't he? _

"Pardon?" Sarah Jane said, still distracted but trying not to let her thoughts spiral into that pit. _I've been as good a mother as I could. I've done my best. If I messed up I'll just have to live with it I suppose._

"There's a girl standing in the driveway," Sky explained, still gazing out the window. Now Sarah Jane was curious. She liked being curious, it distracted her from her life. Curious was her favourite way to be when she wasn't celebrating having saved the world once more from her attic in Ealing. When Sarah Jane looked out the window, there was indeed a girl, standing there, staring at something...

"How about we go and ask her," Sarah Jane was already at the door when she spoke, getting her sonic lipstick from her jacket and putting it in her pocket. _There probably isn't any danger, but it's better to be safe than sorry _she considered all the past times something innocent had turned out to be deadly. _Yeah, better safe than sorry__, _she headed downstairs, sonic in pocket. Sky followed quickly after her, a wide grin on her face. A new girl possibly meant a new friend. Clyde had left for art school and Rani was doing a degree in journalism as well as trying to find an internship to fill the rest of her time. They'd both still be around, but who could tell how long it'd be until Sky would just be left on her own.

Getting the keys from the side table, Sarah Jane unlocked the thick wooden door. It was one of the reasons she bought the house. The feel of that door reminded her of the TARDIS. Her house was like her TARDIS in a sense, except lodged at one address permanently. _I could always redecorate... _she considered adding round things to the wall. _Nah. _Door open, Sky stood close to her as they approached the girl as she stood there, staring.

"Can I help you?" Sarah Jane asked the girl. The girl looked up and blinked, staring into Sarah Jane's eyes. She breathed in deeply through her nose, eyes going to Sky's as she blinked again. Tilting her head to the side, she continued to watch the younger girl. It unnerved Sarah Jane. There was something in her eyes. An emptiness, darkness, deep seething rage burning that refused to be quelled. She looked back to Sarah Jane, blinked and swallowed. Opening and closing her mouth, she tried to familiarise herself with speech once again.

"Yes," the girl said slowly, eyes glinting seriously in concentration. She breathed in deeply again. "Thyme."

"Time?" Sky asked. The girl clicked her fingers, looking around them.

"Thyme, time, I can smell time, that's new," the girl mumbled, staring back at Sarah Jane. Suddenly she grinned widely, stepping back and clapping her hands. "It's you! I think I know you. I should know you. Do I know you?" she tilted her head to the side.

"My name's Sarah Jane Smith," Sarah Jane informed her, skeptical of this new acquaintance.

"Sarah Jane!" the girl exclaimed, leaping back then from foot to foot. "Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane, Sarah Jane..." she murmured to herself, eyes wide in wonder. She paused, blinked again. "Funny, I thought I knew you - ARGH!" She collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain as her skin began to glow. Sarah's eyes widened as she recognised what was happening to the girl.

"Get her inside," Sarah Jane knelt by the girl, Sky following suit, supporting her between them as her face contorted with pain. They could only make it to the front room. Sarah Jane hurriedly closed the curtains, hoping that none of her neighbours were looking through her windows that day.

"What's - happening - to me," the girl managed to say between gritted teeth. She was shaking, her body unable to control it.

"You're regenerating," Sarah explained. "I've seen it before." The girl began to squint as if she was looking through a dirty lens at the world.

"My head," she whispered before falling into unconsciousness, beads of sweat rolling down her face.

"Should we call a doctor?" Sky turned to Sarah Jane. _It can't be him. She must be someone else._

"Stay with her," Sarah Jane instructed before heading up stairs. _Perhaps Mr Smith can shed some light on this..._

* * *

**a/n**: Who is the girl outside? Thoughts? Theories? Hopes? Hopes not?

Have a great day everyone and please review!


	2. Chapter 2

"Mr Smith, I need you," Sarah Jane called as she entered the attic.

"Sarah Jane, how can I be of assistance," he answered coolly. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, putting most of her weight on one foot.

"Do you have any information regarding Timelord regeneration?" she inquired hopefully. Last time she'd had Brigadier there, and he'd been through it all before. Now she had to face it on her own.

"Insufficient data," Mr Smith replied. Sarah Jane bit her lip. _Should I call him? What if she is him, a future him? ... Better to call him than not._

"Call the Doctor," she instructed him.

"Calling the Doctor." His display changed from the revolving crystalline form to an image of a mobile phone with the Doctor's number on the screen. She listened as the rings ran through until -

"Sarah Jane Smith," an old man was on the screen. This wasn't the last Doctor she'd known. "How long's it been? Eight centuries? Too long." His face flashed a smile for a moment again.

"Doctor, who're you talking to?" a younger woman's voice sounded.

"Clara, come, I have a friend I'd like you to meet!" he called over his shoulder.

"Doctor, this is urgent," Sarah Jane insisted, having to adapt fast to his new face. She'd only briefly met his last. _Was it his last? How long had he said - eight centuries? He could have had several in that time... _A girl appeared behind him wearing a brown jacket with a fringe.

"Urgent? What's urgent?" his eyebrows furrowed. She resisted the urge to inquire about his clothing. From what she could see, it greatly resembled his 3rd incarnation, the first she'd met.

"A girl has turned up in my driveway and she's regenerating!" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

"I'll be right there!" he said and was gone. Sarah Jane held her breath, ears scanning for the wheezing sound that would signify his arrival. After a minute, nothing.

"Oh Doctor," she sighed, leaving the attic to go downstairs. As she reached the bottom of the staircase there was a knock at the front door. _Please don't be Gita please don't be Gita please don't be Gita_ Sarah Jane thought over and over as she went to answer it.

"Thought I'd better knock," the Doctor said, revealed as she opened the door. "Through here then." He strode past her to the lounge room where the girl was still unconscious on the sofa. Frowning, he knelt beside her, Sky stepping back.

"Hi, Clara," Clara introduced herself the Sarah Jane as they went after the Doctor, Sarah closing the door firmly.

"Hi," Sarah Jane replied. Her attention immediately returned to the unconscious girl. "Is there anything you can do?" she asked him as he continued to frown.

"Not as of yet, no," he answered, still frowning as he stared at the girl's face, as if trying to tell her entire life's story, past and future, by its close inspection.

"Will she be alright?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Ask me again later," he instructed. It was clear he didn't want to talk and there wasn't anything they could do to help the girl, so Sarah Jane headed into the kitchen.

"Sky," she called before Sky began quizzing the Doctor. She followed Sarah Jane into the kitchen. Clara watched her go, before going up to the Doctor.

"Who is she?" Clara asked him.

"I don't know," the Doctor answered, thinking she meant the unconscious girl. "Ask her when she wakes up."

"I meant the woman, who is she?" Clara repeated. The Doctor ignored her. "Fine, be that way." Clara muttered under her breath, going to see what was happening in the next room. She knocked before entering, not wanting to appear rude. Sarah Jane turned to her as she entered.

"I'm making tea, would you like one?" Sarah Jane asked as warmly as she could with her concern for the girl on her sofa.

"I'd love one, thanks," Clara smiled. Sarah Jane set the kettle to boil before turning to Clara.

"So, what do you do when you aren't travelling with the Doctor?" Sarah Jane asked her.

"I'm an English teacher," Clara informed her. Sky grinned.

"What school do you teach at?" she asked.

"Coal Hill," Clara explained. Sarah nodded, smiling to herself as if there was some joke only she was aware of. "So how exactly do you know the Doctor? If you don't mind my asking..." Clara inquired.

"I traveled with him for a few years," Sarah Jane smiled, reminiscing. "When I was younger. We parted ways, but ran into each other again a few years ago."

"Ah," Clara nodded.

"Take care of him, he needs someone to watch his back," Sarah Jane said as the kettle finished boiling. She poured the teas and took hers and the Doctor's into the lounge room.

* * *

**a/n**: Please review if you want me to keep going with this story. Sorry, this chapter is mostly back and forth dialogue. I tend to write this way most of the time (there is loads and loads of stuff I've written which I haven't published online).

Thanks Emily Meminger for reviewing chapter 1!


	3. Chapter 3

**a/n: **Thanks again to Emily Meminger for reviewing!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter! Sorry it's a bit late and mostly dialogue.

* * *

"So, eight centuries," Sarah Jane said, placing the Doctor's tea on the table. He ignored her, staring at the girl, his eyebrows furrowed deeply. He hadn't been the one to give that face so many frown lines, but he certainly wasn't going to stop from getting more. "It's only been a year here, since I last saw you. Jo's been well. She's helping spread awareness about an oil spill in the North Sea and campaigning for the government to invest more in alternative energies."

"What are you trying to do, Sarah?" he asked, still staring at the girl. Sarah Jane's breath caught. He was talking to her, that was something at least.

"Remind you not to bury your friends before their funeral," she remarked. He looked up and turned to her. "I'm still here, still alive. You're welcome to pop in for tea every now and then."

"No," he cut her off, turning back to the girl. "That's not how it works."

"What's happened to you, Doctor?" Sarah Jane frowned. This was the most alienated she'd ever felt from her best friend.

"Regenerated."

"I can see that, but it's something else, isn't it," Sarah Jane wouldn't let the matter drop. She was too much of a journalist. Or perhaps she was too good a friend. "Do you know who she is?" she joined him in watching the girl.

"I have a theory, but it's impossible," he stated. Sarah Jane chuckled.

"Impossible? When did you start believing in impossible?" she teased him.

"Since it started being real," he objected, wanting her to stop laughing. _Why is she laughing? I'm not being funny! _

Sarah Jane sat down in her chair. "Your tea is getting cold," she pointed out, sipping her own beverage. He looked behind him on the table where his mug sat.

"Thank you," he picked it up and sat as well, opposite Sarah Jane on the sofa where he could also see the girl.

"So who do you think she is? Another Timelady?" Sarah Jane inquired. He tilted his head and sniffed.

"She's certainly not Romana," he concluded. "Though she could be Susan, except that's-"

"Don't say it," Sarah Jane sighed.

"-impossible," he finished. She looked away. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" she scoffed, taken aback. He turned to her, his wide eyes confused at the way she was looking at him. Looking at him like she had no idea who he was anymore, like he was truly alien. She'd seen him be alien to her before, but this was at a totally different level. Sarah Jane composed herself. She knew full well getting angry with the Doctor wouldn't get her anywhere. "Who do you think she is?"

"She could be any number of people," he turned away. River, Susan, Romana, Jenny. All dead, so all impossible.

"What's your theory then?" Sarah Jane crossed her arms after setting her mug on the table.

"I never told you about Jenny, did I?" his face seemed to soft a little. It wasn't kind, or happy, more wistful. "It was while I was travelling with Donna. Martha was there on that trip too. You see, a war was going on and both sides were using these devices which extracted a genetic sample from a parent body and then in seconds re-coded the DNA to grow an offspring which would step from the machine in adult form with full tactical knowledge in seconds."

"Some way to become a parent," Sarah Jane sympathised with him. Parenting was hard, no matter the age. "What happened to her?"

"Killed," he said, his face loosing the wistful glow, snapping sharply into reality. "So as you see, impossible." He turned his head slightly and raised an eyebrow. "And also awake. There's no point hiding it now. Open your eyes." The girl did as he asked, opening her eyes and looking into his. "How old are you?" he frowned, grabbing her head with both hands and looking into her eyes. She blinked, trying to push herself away from him as his eyes widened with interest. "You're young! Where did you come from?" the girl looked over to Sarah Jane who was watching the interaction, quite perplexed.

"Doctor-" Sarah Jane began, but the girl cut her off, sitting bolt upright, her eyes widening as she started at the man.

"She knows me," he said quietly. The girl's breathing began to quicken, her chest expanding and contracting with increasing speed. "Who are you?" Her face suddenly blanked and she turned to stare at the carpet. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" the Doctor raised his voice, moving into her line of vision. She blinked then cried out as her head throbbed. Grasping her temples, she keeled over.

"Stop it! Stop it!" she cried, tears streaming from her eyes. The Doctor's eyes widened suddenly and he immediately moved, sitting down next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," he whispered to her as she cried.

"Doctor, what happened?" Sarah Jane asked quietly. She'd stood up when the girl cried out. The Doctor looked at the girl, then up at Sarah Jane.

"I tried to connect with her mind telepathically," he explained. "Since she's a Timelady, I assumed she would have been trained."

"And you were wrong?"

"Yup," he looked down at the girl, rocking her gently back and forth. "It's alright. I won't do it again, I swear." Eventually her sobs ceased and she turned away from him, her face obscured from view by her fringe.

"Can you tell us who you are?" Sarah Jane asked, sitting down on the sofa. The girl reminded silent and still.

"Do you know who you are?" the Doctor asked in a low voice.

"I don't remember," the girl whispered. Suddenly her head snapped up and she looked at Sarah Jane. She peered at her closely. "Sarah Jane Smith." She let the words roll around in her mouth, tasting them on her tongue.

"Yes, that's my name," Sarah Jane nodded. The girl tilted her head to the side.

"You were... hmm..." she murmured, still watching Sarah Jane.

"Sarah Jane?" Sky inquired, opening the door. The girl leapt up and jumped back, staring at Sky and Clara, her breathing deep. "Oh, she's awake!" Sky smiled before seeing the look of concern on Sarah Jane's face.

"It's alright, this is Sky," Sarah Jane explained to the girl. She looked around the room frantically, her head darting back and forth. "Listen, calm down. None of us are going to hurt you." The girl's eyes locked onto Sarah Jane's. Slowly, she got down off the sofa, sitting down while still maintaining eye contact. "Now that's better." She sat down herself, watching the girl carefully.

"Doctor, what's going on?" Clara asked, brows furrowed with confusion.

"Shh," he hushed her, focusing on the girl.

"When am I?" the girl asked.

"Earth, early 21st century AD," the Doctor supplied. She turned over to look at him.

"21st," she repeated.

"Yes, that's what I said." She stood up, everyone else standing up as well.

"I shouldn't be here, I have to go," she murmured, going to the door.

"No you don't," Sarah Jane soniced the door lock before the girl could touch it. "Sit."

"What are you doing?" the girl asked her, remaining beside the door.

"Finding out what's going on," Sarah Jane replied. The girl backed into the corner, her face going ashen and blank, except her eyes which were large and round.

"No... let me go, please let me go!" she whimpered, curling up into a ball on the floor.

"Hey, it's okay," Clara, who was closest to her, knelt down, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder, but she flinched away under the touch. "Doctor, what's going on?"

"Tell us what you see," he instructed the girl. She remained silent, shivering, face hidden from view. "Tell us what you see." He repeated, more sternly. The girl whimpered.

"Stop it, you're scaring her," Sarah Jane scolded him, going over to Clara. "I think we should just keep our distance." She told her. Clara obeyed, standing and stepping back in line with Sarah Jane as she knelt so she was at eye level with the girl but wasn't in her space.

"Please don't hurt me," the girl whispered, looking around at Sarah Jane, tears streaming down her face. At once she cried out, her head flung back, face contorted in agony as her body fell limp against the wall.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Thank you everyone who has reviewed, followed, favourited. I love reading reviews, even if it's just a couple words, it's greatly appreciated.

Sorry, there won't be another update until December. Loads of stuff happening. Sorry.

* * *

"She's too young," the Doctor said, staring at the girl's limp body as she lay against the wall. He went up to her, putting his hand against her forehead. "No, no, no!" he exclaimed loudly. "Sarah, open the door!" he shouted, lifting the girl into his arms. _How is he doing that? He doesn't look that strong... _Clara pondered, following him as he raced to the TARDIS, Sarah Jane and Sky in tow. As they approached, he shifted the girl in his arms, clicking with one hand and continuing to run as the doors opened. Clara followed, leaving the door open for Sarah Jane and Sky.

"Sarah Jane..." Sky said, a little unsure, stopping outside the TARDIS doors. Sarah Jane turned to her.

"It's alright, Sky," Sarah Jane reassured her. "This is the TARDIS." She explained to her adopted daughter. Sky still wasn't fully certain, but she trusted Sarah Jane and so entered, closing the door behind her. They raced after the fading footsteps of the Doctor, going up the stairs, down the corridor to the sick bay.

"Don't you dare," the Doctor breathed, his eyes alight with fire. Sky stayed in the doorway, confused and a little frightened. The Doctor bustled around the room as the girl lay limp on the bed, pulsating with gold light.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Clara asked him.

"I need to connect with her, teach her how to regenerate, she's burning herself up," he spoke at light speed, the words tumbling out of his mouth after each other. "If I can't help her, she'll kill herself with all the energy she's holding." The girl woke with a start, coughing. "Deep breaths, here, let me help you," the Doctor said sternly, putting his hands on either side of her forehead.

"Can't - where am I?" she asked, staring at the ceiling, blinking with glassy eyes. Beads of sweat had appeared on her forehead.

"You're safe, in the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "Now, hold still, this is going to hurt." She clenched her fists, bracing herself for the pain to come. The Doctor closed his eyes to concentrate. The gold light glowed brighter, then faded, her face relaxing. His eyes opened, eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "That can't be right," he murmured.

"What, what's happened?" Sarah Jane inquired.

"Is she dead?" Sky asked hesitantly from the doorway.

"Doctor?" Clara asked, standing nearer to him.

"She's... asleep..." he kept frowning, getting up and retrieving a scanning instrument from the wall behind him. He scanned her entire body. "Sarah, come take a look at this." Sarah Jane did, going up to him and looking over his arm at the readouts. "Two hearts, so she is Gallifreyan decent at least." The Doctor mused.

"Try cross referencing it with DNA codes already in the TARDIS database. If it is Jenny, there'll be a match," Sarah Jane reasoned.

"Good idea, I'll be in the control room," the Doctor strode out, Clara watching him go with a confused look on her face. Why had he asked this Sarah Jane to look at the readings and not her? Sky stepped aside to let him pass. She went over to the girl, tilting her head to the side as she looked at her face.

"Sarah Jane, what are those marks on her arms?" Sky asked, pointing but not touching the marks she was referring to. The Doctor had removed the girl's white jacket, revealing a white singlet top underneath. There were marks up the girl's arms, either circles or straight lines and the circular ones placed periodically, like she'd been wired into a machine.

"It looks like she was... plugged into something... judging by those circle marks," Sarah Jane observed. Clara looked over her shoulder.

"Yeah, but those lines, they're random," Clara pointed out.

"They look like scars," Sarah Jane breathed. "You don't think she might have been held captive somewhere, experimented on against her will?"

"I don't know what to think right now," Clara admitted, looking to Sarah Jane. She guessed that Sarah Jane might be an inch or two taller than her if she wasn't wearing high heels. As it happened, Clara was at her height.

"Sarah Jane, look!" Sky exclaimed as the girl's eyes blinked open. She started straight ahead.

"Where's my pod, I have to get back, before..." her voice faded off.

"Before what?" Sarah Jane asked.

"It'll detonate... it was a precaution... so I didn't pollute any time streams..." tears were running down the side of the girl's face.

"What does your pod look like?" Clara asked urgently.

"They inserted a device into my hand to open it," the girl spoke as more tears streamed down her face. "Oh no... what if it's too late?"

"Everything's going to be okay," Sarah Jane promised the girl. "Can you describe the pod for us or where you might have landed?"

"Trees, lots of trees," the girl murmured. "When I woke up, there were trees everywhere... I knew you could help... Sarah Jane Smith..." Her eyes faded, looking like she was in a dream state. "Crater, hot. I burnt my hands climbing out..."

"It was a wreckage," Sarah Jane filled in the gaps.

"Fire, I was screaming..." the girl spoke, still staring straight ahead, tears pouring from the corners of her eyes, running into her hair. There were no soot marks on her clothes, or any on her skin, Clara noted. "I had to run through it... it hurt me..." She closed her eyes.

"The pod, what does the pod look like?" Clara probed.

"Smooth, egg shaped, massive chunk missing from one side after the blast," the girl explained. Clara started to go to the console room to tell the Doctor. "Stop!" the girl cried, grabbing Clara's arm with unbelievable strength from so frail a body. "Don't go inside it. You mustn't go inside it. Only I can go inside it." She said with urgency.

"Why? What happens if someone else goes inside it?" Clara asked.

"Automatic detonation," the girl whispered, stiffening a moment and falling limp.

* * *

**A/N:** So now there's a mysterious Timelady, a pod they need to find and deactivate without going inside because it'll explode and has anyone told UNIT not to get their hands in it yet? What caused the blast that removed one side of the pod? Who is this girl? Does she even know herself?

Again, apologies there won't be more until December unless I (and by extension, anyone enjoying reading this) am extremely lucky.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Sorry about the long hiatus. Hopefully I'll be back more regularly now. Merry Christmas, or whatever religious festival you celebrated I hope you enjoyed it, and Happy New Year!

* * *

Clara joined the Doctor as he walked in circles around the TARDIS centre console. Instead of following him, she went to the bottom of the staircase. "Doctor, we have a problem," she told him.

"You think I wasn't aware of that already?" he didn't bother to look at her as he kept pacing, hands in pockets, eyebrows drawn together like a ledge sticking out from his face.

"The girl, she says she arrived in a pod," Clara explained, brushing off his comment. "She also said that if she doesn't get back to it soon, it's likely to explode." That got his attention, freezing with his back to her.

"Well, we'd better find it then," he turned to the console, commencing a scan.

"She said there were lots of trees where she crashed, and the pod is egg shaped, with a chunk missing from one side," Clara explained, going to watch over his shoulder - though it was really from beside him thanks to her height.

"Scanners should detect it unless there's a cloak," he informed her, pressing buttons here and there, moving in a circle around the console, Clara following a step behind. "We have a lock!" he announced happily, pulling the screen back to them. "Oh..."

"Problem?" Clara asked innocently.

"Yes," he pulled the lever to send them into flight.

"What's going on?" Sarah Jane exclaimed, racing from the sickbay.

"The pod, I've found it!" the Doctor called to her as she held onto the railing around the top deck for dear life. _Trips on the TARDIS weren't this bumpy, surely?! _she pondered as the Time Vortex pushed them from side to side. _What am I thinking, of course they were._ They stilled with a thud. "Go get our visitor!" the Doctor called over his shoulder, not even waiting for a reply as he raced for the door. Outside they heard him shout, "Stay away! It's not safe! Stay away!" Clara and Sarah Jane met eyes for a second, with a nod Clara raced out after him, Sarah Jane returning to sickbay to get the girl and Sky.

Outside, Clara was met with a scene of the Doctor waving his arms wildly and shouting at a man in black kevlar. "Sorry, it's best just to do as he says," she said to the man when it looked like he was about to argue.

"Are you the Doctor?" he asked, eyes hidden behind black sunglasses.

"Yes, he is," Clara explained for the Doctor while he was more interested sonicing the pod that lay in the middle of a pit, earth tossed up around them, a smooth white with black streaks and a large gash in the side. Flames licked the edges of the pit.

"What have we missed?" Sarah Jane asked, squeezing through the doorway with the girl supported between her and Sky. Clara immediately rushed to help them, the girl's face ashen. Her face kept quivering as she stared at the ground, her feet almost dragging beneath her. "I see," she took a glance at the pod. "Do you have any idea where we are?" The soldier headed over to them.

"Just across the boarder in Wales," he explained for her. There were more officers circling, but all had moved back at the Doctor's arrival.

"Wales!" Sky exclaimed, the girl's head jerking up as the man's words computed. Stumbling forward, she headed straight towards the pod and the flames around it, holding her hand ahead of her as she walked, face contorted in agony.

"Make it stop, please!" she cried out through gritted teeth, the Doctor grabbing her around the waist before she walked straight into the flames.

"No you don't," he said into her ear. The hand she held out had a device implanted with in, glowing brightly.

"I must, I have to make it stop!" she tried to shrug him off, but he wouldn't be deterred so easily. He held up his sonic in his free hand, pointing it at the craft. "NO!" the girl screamed, whites flashing around her eyes. She'd caught him by surprise, managing to escape from his grip, running into the flames, rising up to hide her from sight.

He went to follow her, but Sarah Jane grabbed his hand, Clara standing astonished with Sky. "No, if she came out of those flames once she can do it again," she told him quietly.

"Sarah Jane?" Sky's eyes were wide. Content the Doctor wasn't about to charge into the fire, she let go of him to care for her daughter. "Is she dead?" she turned to face her, eyes brimming with tears. Sarah Jane held her arms open, the young girl stepping into her embrace, glad for a reason to look away from the fire pit.

"I don't know," Sarah Jane admitted in a whisper.

* * *

Are you enjoying the story? Please feel free to leave a review! We still don't know who the girl is. Is she even alive anymore?! Any theories? (note: I did start this before the Missy reveal, and that's not who the girl is. So that's one name crossed off the list...)


	6. Chapter 6

Standing around the rim of the crash crater, Sarah Jane held Sky close. The Doctor's lip quivered, staring at the place where the girl had vanished. "Doctor, what are we going to do?" Clara asked him once she'd found her voice. He kept staring silently at the pod behind the flames as they towered higher and higher. Sarah Jane opened her mouth to respond, when a blindly bright light flashed from the pod, accompanied by desperate screams. A wave of energy knocked them back, the Doctor and Clara landing with thuds on their backsides, Sarah and Sky pushed against the doors of the TARDIS. Sarah Jane twisted her body to protect Sky as the energy wave pushed harder.

"What's happening?" Sky had to yell to be heard above the roaring noise, despite being inches from Sarah Jane's ear.

"Energy wave, the pod!" Sarah Jane shouted back. As quickly as it had arrived, the energy wave died down, leaving sun spots in their vision and a ringing in their ears. Looking over Sky, Sarah Jane was convinced she was alright, before going to help Clara up. The Doctor had already leapt to his feet, going to the edge of the crater where the flames licked at ankle height.

"There!" he shouted, pointing to the centre of the pit where the girl lay. Running in before anyone could stop him, he jumped over the creeping flames to reach her. Kneeling down, he checked for a pulse. "Still alive!" he announced with a massive grin. The girl remained motionless as he lifted her into his skinny arms, dancing around the flames to the edge of the pit. Laying her on safe ground, UNIT officers were at last able to move in and extinguish the flames.

"Doctor, I think it would be wise if we left now," Sarah Jane said quietly to him. Nodding, he carried the girl into the TARDIS, the rest of them following with glances back at the UNIT officers. Thankfully they were more interested in extinguishing the flames than paying attention to what the visitors were doing. Laying her on the seat in the console room, he turned to the controls with the intention to leave.

_Knock knock knock. _

They all turned to look at the door. "Doctor," Kate Stewart called from the other side. "Doctor, need I remind you, you are a UNIT officer."

"Sorry, call in later," he shouted back, pulling the lever to send them back to Bannerman Road. "I'm busy." He turned to focus his attention on the girl on the bed. "Now, time to see who you are then." Moving forward, he gently pulled back one of her eyelids to reveal a hazel-khaki iris.

The others kept their distance while the Doctor made his inspection. The TARDIS still hadn't come with a result for the DNA match. "She looks a little like you," Sky said absently to Sarah Jane.

"What?" Sarah Jane turned to her in surprise.

"I mean, same hair colour, same eye colour," Sky explained. "Maybe someone cloned you."

"I highly doubt it," Sarah Jane remarked. _Why would anyone want to clone me? _She noticed the Doctor pull up the girl's singlet top to reveal that she had no navel.

"Grown then," he observed, gently touching where her belly button ought to be. Her skin glowed golden to his touch, shining beneath his fingers. "Tea!" he snapped his fingers, turning to Sarah Jane. "You'd made tea!"

"Yes," Sarah Jane told him.

"Excellent!" he grinned like a madman, picking up the girl again to race out back into Sarah Jane's house.

They followed him like ducklings following their mother, albeit an angry, Scottish, male mother.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Here's the final installment in "The Girl Outside". I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

The girl lay limp in the Doctor's arms as he raced back through to Sarah Jane's living room. Gently placing her on the sofa, he reached for the closest mug of tea, holding her head up as he placed it to her lips. He poured until a dribble ran out the side of her mouth. "Too soon, she woke up too soon, her body wasn't ready," he muttered to the others who'd gathered around.

"Will she be alright now?" Sarah Jane asked.

"Oh, she'll be fine!" he assured her as he gently lowered the girl's head. Suddenly, she gagged, eyes flying open, tea going down the wrong way. Sarah Jane rushed forward to help her as the Doctor stepped back. Soughing, the girl struggled to catch her breath. In his pocket, the Doctor's sonic screwdriver buzzed. Pulling it out, he inspected it closely. "Ah!"

"What happened?" she croaked.

"You regenerated," he informed her, still examining the screwdriver. "Nice trick, but you're not Timelady." He turned to her, raising an eyebrow. "Just a trick from going through the time vortex without the proper shielding. Human as they come. Artificially grown though."

"The pod, it crashed," the girl was blinking as she tried to take in everything around her.

"Yes, in Wales, how did you get here from Wales?" Sarah Jane exclaimed.

"I ran," the girl said as though it were no big deal.

"That isn't the most interesting part though," the Doctor was grinning happily.

"Okay, tell us, what's the most interesting part?" Clara was smiling along with him. Sky was smiling, looking between all the adults, a little confused by the speed of it all.

"When she's from, who grew her and," he turned to Sarah Jane. "What she was grown from. Or have you forgotten?" Sarah Jane frowned, turning back to the girl, looking into her face. It almost felt like looking into a mirror at her past. "Those clothes, you've seen them before."

"The ark! The ark in space! With you and Harry!" Sarah Jane suddenly exclaimed, cogs clicking together in her mind.

"They had records of yours and Harry's DNA on file," the Doctor informed her. "Why did they grow you? What purpose?" he asked, eye brows furrowed at the girl.

"I am experiment 14," the girl said, having caught her breath. "They were surprised when I survived the early growth stages. They didn't expect me to survive the trip either."

"Hence the the self destruct on your pod," Clara nodded.

"Experimental time travel," the girl agreed.

"The design was wrong though," the Doctor pointed out. "Anyone could have told you, completely the wrong material to make time machines out of. Ages too fast. And to go in with no shields, you'd have been better off taking the long way round."

"As soon as I got in the vortex, the ship began disintegrating around me," the girl's eyes misted over. "I should be dead..."

"Time vortex saved you, spat you out," the Doctor said brightly. "That and a good old cup of tea." The girl couldn't help yawning. "You'll be tired for another day or two though," he admitted. "Bed rest is all you need now. You'll be right as rain."

"Are we going to take her back, to where she came from, this ark thing?" Clara asked him. He turned to the girl, eyebrow raised.

"What's your name?" he barked at her. She stared at him, confused. "Designation? Anything?"

"Experiment 14," she informed him. "That's all they ever called me." He turned back to Clara.

"I'm not sending her back to be a lab rat to people who won't even give her a name," he told her, a chill in his voice.

"That what's going to happen to me?" the girl asked, unfazed. The Doctor kept looking at Clara.

"Doctor, you said they had Harry's and my DNA on file," Sarah Jane turned to him. "Whose DNA was she grown from?"

"Look at her, isn't it obvious?" he went over to Sarah Jane, wonder filling his eyes. "You and Harry, but they modelled her mainly off of you. The only DNA they had which had gone through the time vortex. They did muck around with it a little, but there's enough unchanged for her to be your daughter."

"My daughter," Sarah Jane repeated, looking between the Doctor and the girl, utterly gobsmacked. "Biological daughter."

"With a hint of Harry Sullivan," he winked at her.

"I have a sister!" Sky exclaimed with glee.

"Thank you," she told the Doctor quietly. With a nod, he stood, linking arms with Clara, making their silent exit to continue their journey among the stars.

"Am I staying here?" the girl asked.

"Yes, you are," Sarah Jane promised her. Her own flesh and blood. "No more experimentation." The sound of the TARDIS leaving filled the street.

* * *

**A/N: **Taadaa! Genetically grown from Sarah Jane and Harry's DNA recorded in the computer systems of the ark ship from The Ark in Space. If you haven't seen it, you're seriously missing out, Sarah Jane has this awesome scene with the Doctor as she's crawling through an air duct. Quality material.

If you don't like the outcome, feel free to write your own version of discovering who The Girl Outside turns out to be. Tell me if you do in reviews or message me so I can read it please!

I hope you all have awesome lives. I'll be continuing on where this story ends in: Life on Bannerman Road.


End file.
